One Sunday, when I was teaching Sunday School, we began work on a Mother's Day booklet as Mother's Day was just around the corner. I explained that we would be working on the booklets for a few weeks and when we were done, the kids would have a very special gift to give their moms when Mother's Day came. They were very excited and couldn't wait to start. The first thing we were going to do was draw a detailed picture of our moms. I asked the kids to take their time, make it very colourful and special and draw their moms doing something they enjoyed. Most of the kids did an incredible job and were very eager to share with each other, their mom drawings. One little guy, however, got up to present his picture and let's just say... he did not "understand the assignment." He began, "Here's my living room, and our big TV. Here's our dining room table. Here's our stove, fridge and dishwasher. Here's our couch and chairs." He went on and on, and well, you get the picture. Trying not to interrupt, I waited until he was done. (which seemed like forever) I was very confused, yet politely said, "You did a great job on your home, but your job was to draw a picture of your mom for Mother's Day. I am wondering, where's mom?" He looked like a deer in the headlights as I could tell he realized he had not followed the instructions. An uncomfortable expression came across his face as he said, "Oh, where's my mom?" I said "Yes, where's mom?" Thinking for a second, he quickly grabbed a black crayon and scribbled something down very fast and then turned around his picture proudly. He had drawn a staircase and said "Umm... my mom is upstairs!" Copyright: © 2024 littlelessonslearnedbydana/ chucklesandchalkdust (Dana Romualdi) Tags: Mother's Day, kids' drawings, gift for mom
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School Picture Day is always a big source of excitement. It is always so cute to see the kids come dressed in their Sunday best, new hairstyles and smiles a mile wide. One student one year went ALL OUT. He wore a suit like what a ringbearer at a wedding would wear and had his hair spiked with hair gel. He looked amazing, and you could tell he felt amazing too. I couldn't wait to see how the pictures turned out when they came back about a month later. His individual pictures were so great. He looked so handsome and grown up. I could imagine how proud his parents would be. Then came the class picture... To my dismay, I was NOT happy with what I saw. He and another boy were making very deliberate silly faces and the camera had captured it ALL! Before I sent the class pictures home, I showed him first and asked for an explanation about this as it was so out of character for him. He was mortified and said he didn't really want to do it, but the other boy had convinced him it would be fun and a great memory. It broke my heart to see him cry as he begged me to not send the class picture home to anyone. He was so embarrassed. I told him I couldn't do that, but hoped he could learn to not do that in the future. Shortly after, his parents booked an interview with me at report card time. We talked about various things and then they brought up the class picture. I was unsure what direction they were going, but they said that he learned a very valuable lesson. They looked at it as a teachable moment and they said they had a great conversation about reputations and how you can give others an impression of you that is incorrect simply by making a poor choice. They knew that he already felt very badly about it so they had a very gentle conversation about it. They felt that in the end, he learned a great life lesson that will stick with him for years. I share this story because I was so impressed with how these parents handled the situation, and I told them that. They could have punished him or made him feel worse, yet chose to take the high road, tread softly and help him see that something good could come from even the most embarrassing situation if you are open to it. Copyright: © 2024 littlelessonslearnedbydana/ chucklesandchalkdust (Dana Romualdi) Tags: class picture, cute kids story, life lessons, learn from mistakesOne Sunday morning I was teaching Sunday School years ago to a group of energetic 5 -year -olds. The Biblical principle that we were trying to convey was the concept of "pray without ceasing" that the Bible speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 - 18. We explained that we should always be ready to take our matters to God in prayer, but it doesn't necessarily mean we literally pray 24/7. One little guy said, "We pray at breakfast, so we pray once a day." My friend who was teaching with me said, "Good for you!" The little guy then said, "No wait a minute we pray at lunch and dinner too! Silly me, so I guess we pray 3x a day." I chimed in with "That's wonderful." As I attempted to continue the lesson, he kept interrupting me. Next, he said "We also pray at the bus stop! I forgot. So, we pray 4x a day." As I again tried to move on, he jumped in once more and said, "Just wait a minute we also pray at bedtime, so we really pray 5x a day." Before I had a chance to respond a little girl sitting beside him rolled her eyes and said, sarcastically "O.k. o.k., we got it already!" It really cracked me up because I was thinking the same thing and didn't really have the time to hear how he prays, six, seven or eight times a day either for that matter! So funny! Copyright: © 2024 littlelessonslearnedbydana/ chucklesandchalkdust (Dana Romualdi) Tags: Sunday school stories, prayer, pray without ceasing, funny kid stories |
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